Pictou County woman sews her way to profitability
Melissa Fournier is stitching her way to happiness and profitability.
Her home-based sewing and design business, Liss & Landi, has been growing steadily since its beginnings five years ago.
“I started slow, making things for family and friends but I’m doing custom orders and markets, I have two online shops on Etsy and I have my products in five stores so I am growing at a pace that is very comfortable for me,” she said, adding she hopes to continue the growth.
Her business is set up in one end of her basement on Angell Street in Westville.
“I have a half door between my sewing room and my two children’s playroom so I can see what is going on while I stitch reusable products and a wide array of baby products.”
Fournier wakes up most mornings about 4 a.m. and heads straight for the sewing room.
“I like to do all my cutting out early in the morning when the kids are still sleeping. Once they are in preschool and school, that’s when I get most of my work done but they are also used to playing while I sew. If I’m really busy, my grandmother is just down the road and she’s wonderful to help out.”
Fournier spent her early years in Caledonia, moving with her family to New Glasgow when she was 10 years old. Her interest in sewing has come down through several generations.
“My mother, Melinda, always made Halloween costumes for my brother, sister and me and I do that for my own children. My grandmothers, Frances Zentner and Elaine Cameron, taught me to sew and how to work with a pattern.”
One memorable Christmas her parents bought her a sewing machine and during her middle school years, she proudly made all her own special event dresses.
“We didn’t have the kind of money some girls were spending on dresses but beyond that I enjoyed shopping for a pattern and then choosing fabric. I always had a dress I liked and it was always a one of a kind dress.”
Fournier worked for Sobeys at its Aberdeen mall location for six years before transferring to work for the company in Airdrie, AL, where she met her husband.
“I spent a few months working at the camps near Fort McMurray, cleaning
offices and cabins. It was an interesting place to be but I decided to go back to school and studied accounting at Southern Alberta Institute of Technology for a couple of years.”
By then Fournier and her husband were thinking about starting a family.
“My husband is from northern Alberta but I knew if we were going to start a family, I wanted to be closer to home, to have the support of my family. He agreed to move east with me in 2015.”
They first moved to Halifax where she continued to study accounting at St. Mary’s University.
“I finished my third year in accounting and I knew it wasn’t a field I wanted to work in. I learned a lot of useful things, but it wasn’t ever going to be a passion.”
Instead, she dropped out of school, they had a son and eventually moved to Pictou County..
“My son Landen is really the inspiration for my business because once I had him I found I was spending time looking for hard to find products. I started making my own burp cloths and bandana bibs and then making the same items for family and friends. After talking it over with my husband, we decided to see if there was a market for the things I was making.”
Besides producing her line of baby items, which includes innovative baby mittens and booties, she became interested in reducing disposable items in her own home which led her to making what she calls ‘unpaper towels.” She also makes organic baby
wipes, napkins and facial care products.
“I have one Etsy store for my baby items and another one called Rayne’s Reusables for my eco-friendly products.”
To date she has convinced five stores including Hippy Chicks in New Glasgow, Penny Lane in Westville and The Crafty Shore in Tatamagouche, to carry her products.
Fournier recently joined New Glasgow Farmers Market as an occasional vendor and has her sister working her booth twice a month while she is at the Antigonish Farmers’ Market where she has been a regular since 2019.
“When I first wanted to set up at a market the New Glasgow market was not accepting new vendors so I got established in Antigonish. That’s been a really good experience and it motivated me to take part in a few other farmers’ markets in different areas. I’m hopeful the New Glasgow market will work out for me.”
She credits word of mouth and social media with helping get her business off the ground but she enjoys chatting with her customers.
“I’ve got a lot of mothers but also a lot of aunts and grandmothers who buy from me and if they like what I’m selling, they’ll come back to buy for their families or for gifts. They’ll also let their friends know and that is important.”
During the Covid pandemic Fournier has made countless
masks for children and adults.
“As a home business, I have not felt the impact of Covid as much as many businesses. The only supply I’ve had trouble with was maple hardwood teething rings I used to buy from a company in the US. When I couldn’t get them anymore I found a supplier in Ontario so that worked out for the best. “
She buys some of her fabric locally and orders the rest online.
“I’m always looking for fabric but I’ve always got a good supply of fabric on hand, too. For the first few months of the year sales are usually a bit slow but I keep sewing to build up my inventory for summer which is my busiest time.”